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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26199448">My love's like a red, red rose</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/epistemology/pseuds/epistemology'>epistemology</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Batman - All Media Types, DCU (Comics)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Dick Grayson is a dork, Dick Grayson's Harem of Redheads, Fluff, M/M, Smooth Jason Todd</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-09-02</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-09-02</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 07:13:48</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,728</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26199448</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/epistemology/pseuds/epistemology</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <em>Despite popular belief, Dick Grayson did not have a thing for redheads. He just so happened to know a lot of them.</em>
</p><p>Dick catches Jason dyeing his hair.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Dick Grayson/Jason Todd</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>37</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>438</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>JayDick Summer Exchange 2020</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>My love's like a red, red rose</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><ul class="associations">
      <li>For <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/myvividreams/gifts">myvividreams</a>.</li>



    </ul><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Vivi, you have done so many treats for everyone (seriously, I'm impressed), so I figured you deserved one of your own. Hope you enjoy!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Despite popular belief, Dick Grayson did not have a thing for redheads. He just so happened to know a lot of them.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Donna had always teased him about it when they were younger, but Dick never minded. In fact, he found it rather funny that he’d somehow formed his own redheaded posse and liked to joke that Bruce would have to dye his hair if they wanted to continue being friends. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>But Dick definitely didn’t have a red head kink. Because despite the fact that his first crush had been Roy, and then Wally, and then Kori, and then Barbara, he now, against all odds, had a crush on none other than Jason Todd, certified brunette. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He hadn’t expected it. Dick would like to say it had come from nowhere, but that wasn’t entirely true — he and Jason had been dancing around each other since his resurrection and subsequent return to Gotham. First, it had been a simple desire for Jason to come home and be a part of the family again, which Dick had equated to brotherly feelings, or something like it. Then, it had been a healthy appreciation for Jason’s skills, mixed with a love/hate relationship for that stupid, hot leather jacket. Dick found himself enjoying Jason’s company and missing him when he was gone. And he was gone a lot, off with Roy and Kori (two of </span>
  <em>
    <span>Dick’s</span>
  </em>
  <span> redheads, dammit) and then Bizarro and Artemis.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>But something had clicked into place when Dick had helped Jason with that case at the circus. Suddenly, Jason was looking at him differently than usual, softer than usual, and Dick couldn’t help but wonder if there was something there that he was missing. If maybe this strange, unexpected attraction he was feeling wasn’t as one sided as he’d assumed. Jason flirted with him from time to time, something Dick had never allowed himself to read into, but the tender affection in his eyes had brought with it a whole new level of overthinking.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Dick knew he was a coward. He’d left, afterall. There had been a certain tension between them, stretched thin in those moments like a tightrope, making Dick think that maybe something would happen, but then he’d ruined it all by leaving. He returned to Gotham, and Jason went wherever the hell he usually disappeared off to. Dick hadn’t seen him since.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He was making dinner when he got the text. An unknown number and a request that read: </span>
  <em>
    <span>I have details on a case in Blud. Meet me at 9 at my safehouse you’ve been to.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>A grin slowly stretched across Dick’s face. Nobody but Jason could’ve sent that, and the initial surprise that he’d felt was already giving way to nervous anticipation. He did a cartwheel to get rid of the butterflies forming in his stomach, and when that didn’t work, settled in for a long evening of pacing back and forth while practicing conversations in his head.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>At 8:15 Dick gave up and decided to leave early. It would take him a good twenty minutes to get there, and while a half hour was definitely too early, the social faux pas beat doing cartwheels until he threw up. He let himself in through the window, relieved to see that he hadn’t set off any hidden alarms which would have resulted in a defensive Jason and a gun pointed at Dick’s head.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The apartment was nice, nicer than Dick would’ve expected from Jason, but he remembered from his last visit there — in which Jason had been injured and Dick had tried very hard to focus on stitching him up and not on the sight of his naked chest, muscles on full display — that Jason liked to have one place that was a little more upscale than his others. He’d said it was so that he had somewhere to relax. And it just so happened that this particular place was in Bludhaven.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Dick navigated a familiar hallway, looking for a sign of Jason, who was suspiciously absent. Sure, Dick was early, but he would’ve expected Jason to be more attentive. He’d always been the most paranoid of them all, besides maybe Bruce.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Dick reached the end of the hallway, where the door to the bedroom stood, and peeked his head in. The room itself was empty and tidy in the way it could only be if no one had occupied it recently, but a soft light emitted from the bathroom, the door cracked open just enough for Dick to make out a figure bending over the sink. He pushed open the door slowly. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>And that was how Dick found himself in Jason’s safehouse. In Jason’s room. Standing in the bathroom doorway. Watching while Jason applied black dye to his very messy, very </span>
  <em>
    <span>red</span>
  </em>
  <span> roots.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It took a few long seconds for Dick to register exactly what he was seeing, but the moment he did was marked by an embarrassing squeak. Jason’s head shot up, and the bottle of dye clattered to the floor, spilling dark liquid onto the smooth tile.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Dick, what the fuck?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Some of the dye had gotten on Jason’s socks, Dick noticed. It was better to focus on that than the red roots in Jason’s hair.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Um, I just thought I’d come early. I didn’t know you’d be…” He made a jerky hand motion that could’ve translated to anything other than what it actually meant</span>
  <em>
    <span>,</span>
  </em>
  <span> but Jason seemed to get the gist. He reached down belatedly to pick up the bottle and either didn’t notice or didn’t care about the dirty socks. Dick kept his eyes trained on the small splatters.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah, well, as you can see, I’m busy!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Right.” Dick cleared his throat. “So, uh, I didn’t know you were a redhead.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Jason let out an unflattering snort. “What, you looking for applications or something?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“For your harem,” he clarified.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“No! I just-” Dick broke off. A smirk was growing on Jason’s face, and it was obvious he was messing with him. “Why do you dye it?” he asked instead.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The smirk fell away, replaced by an indecipherable look that made Dick’s stomach twist into knots. “Bruce made me. Wanted me to look more like you. Make it so people wouldn't notice there was a different kid wearing the short shorts.” He started applying what was left of the dye to his hair, and Dick watched, mesmerized, as the red was slowly covered up by black. “Then, after I came back. I dunno. I guess I was just used to the dark. Plus, everyone who knew me as a redhead is either dead or missing. Or probably thinks </span>
  <em>
    <span>I’m</span>
  </em>
  <span> dead or missing, so…” He shrugged.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Dick swallowed down the sudden wave of guilt that came with that knowledge. Logically, he knew that Bruce loved Jason, or had loved Jason, but the fact that he’d pushed him to dye his hair in a physical attempt to be more like Dick didn’t sit well.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“For what it’s worth, I like your natural color,” Dick said. Jason’s hands froze at the crown of his head. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You would, wouldn’t you.” It was the second jab he’d made about Dick’s redheaded posse, and Dick was beginning to think he was onto something. It was a little embarrassing, being caught in the truth that he was attracted to redheads, and therefore Jason, but there wasn’t much he could do about it now. Not when the mere sight of his roots had visibly flustered Dick, something Jason had surely caught onto.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m being serious!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“So am I.” Jason smiled lazily, head tilted towards Dick in a way that let him see more of his face. Dick’s heart hadn’t skipped a beat when he’d faced Scarecrow last week, but an unguarded Jason giving him the most sincere, if not cocky, smile he’d ever seen made his heart rate spike in a way no Gotham rogue could ever manage.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah,” Dick whispered, suddenly breathless. He had fought alongside Batman most of his life — hell, he’d </span>
  <em>
    <span>been</span>
  </em>
  <span> Batman for a time — but a little positive attention from his crush had him scatterbrained in the most delightful way. His cheeks were hot, and he was sure he was blushing, but he couldn’t bring himself to care. Couldn’t bring himself to look away.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>And then Jason turned, and the spell was broken. “It says I need to let this sit for ten minutes,” he said, reading off the box. Dick took a deep breath, desperately trying to replace all the oxygen that had definitely fled from his brain.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You want to work on the case while we wait?” Jason asked. He stepped away from the sink, closing the proximity between them in the close quarters of the bathroom.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Dick inhaled sharply. “The case?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah, Dickie. The case. That’s why I texted you.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh,” he said, weakly. “Right. The case.” Because Jason hadn’t invited Dick over to show him his red hair. He’d invited Dick for work related reasons, and work related reasons only.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Unless,” Jason began, “there’s something you’d rather be doing?” He stepped closer crowding Dick against the door, and Dick didn’t think his face could get any hotter, but here Jason was, proving him wrong at every turn, like usual.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What do you- Jay, I-”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>And then Jason’s mouth was on his, and Dick’s brain may have short circuited for a second before he realized exactly what was happening and threw his arms around Jason’s neck. He let himself enjoy the feeling of being wrapped up in Jason’s warmth, of the slide of Jason’s lips against his, the soft moan escaping Jason’s throat. It wasn’t until Dick tangled his fingers in Jason’s hair and they came away wet that he broke away to see smudges of black streaked across his hand. A smile tugged at the corners of his mouth.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Jason grinned back. “Guess I’m a part of the harem now, huh.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The growing smile turned into a full laugh, and Dick hid his face in Jason’s neck, delighting in the feel of bare skin under his lips. He felt as Jason’s head turned, just enough so that his lips could graze Dick’s ear, his breath eliciting a full body shiver.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I might even consider going natural again,” he whispered, and with that one statement all logical thought left Dick’s head.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Yeah, he definitely had a thing for redheads.</span>
</p><p> </p>
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